Vince Cable has made a career out of U-turns so it's not surprising that the new Lib Dem leader should be accused of yet another screeching about-face.

First, he moved from the Labour Party, then he was ridiculed for claiming the damage the Lib Dems suffered after their university tuition fees reversal was a 'price worth paying'.

Now, he puts opposition to Brexit as his priority to rebuild his party's dwindling support — despite thinking very differently not long ago.

At the weekend, Dr Cable said: 'I specifically support the aims of the single market and its four freedoms: free movement of goods, capital, services and labour.' Compare this with what he told the New Statesman earlier this year: 'There is no great argument of liberal principle for free EU movement; the economics is debatable; and the politics is conclusively hostile.'

At the time, he wasn't an MP — having been booted out of his Twickenham seat in 2015 — and an embarrassed Lib Dem spokesman was forced into damage-limitation mode and said: 'Vince's views are his own . . . and he does not speak for the party.'

Also, for good measure, here's another 180-degree switch.

At the weekend, Cable said: 'What we now need is an exit from Brexit'.

Yet, less than a year ago, he insisted it would be 'disrespectful' to voters and 'politically counter-productive' to call for a second referendum on the EU.

Vince should be beatified as the patron saint of U-turns.

Cut-price Kendall

Although a proud feminist, Andrew Neil (BBC salary in the £200,000-£249,999 bracket) presides over a gender pay gap on his late-night BBC2 politics show This Week. Labour's Liz Kendall says she gets £350 for her appearances, while former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson is paid £700. Perhaps that's because Liz has started stretching out her words like Robert Peston, so says less than Johnson.

Labour's Liz Kendall says she gets £350 for her appearances, while former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson is paid £700

Whoops! A tweet from Jeremy Corbyn condemned car parking charges at a Cardiff hospital as 'a burden on families, patients and NHS staff'. However, it was soon deleted. His staff must have quickly woken up to the fact that the NHS in Wales is run by the Labour Party and has been for years.

Claret-lovers have pointed out a classy Bordeaux vintage that will be attractive to Corbynistas. Its tasting notes say: 'A dense red, pure and impressively endowed in an elegant yet authoritative style.' It is Chateau Grand Corbin, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2011 — and is said to be good for another eight years!

Gag-writers are being invited to contribute to a comic book anthology on Comrade Corbyn which is being produced by a company called SelfMadeHero. May I suggest they start by taking extracts from Labour's 2017 General Election manifesto — and, in particular, its La La Land economics.

MPs whip up a Stormzy

Novice Labour MPs Sarah Jones and Emma Dent Coad both quoted the Croydon-born 'grime' rapper Stormzy in their maiden Commons speeches. Jones said: 'As Stormzy put it so well in one of his songs: 'You're never too big for the boot.' ' This was a blatant attempt to pander to young inner-city voters. At least they spared us some of the rapper's more objectionable lyrics such as: 'Yeah, f***ing repping, init, Yeah fire in the park, let's go!'

Refreshingly different was Kemi Badenoch, who was raised in Nigeria and now represents Saffron Walden for the Tories. She said in her maiden speech: 'The vote for Brexit was the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom.'